A review of The Criterion Collection Blu-ray of THE PALM BEACH STORY (1942) by the spring 2019 Editorial Board of the magazine FILM MATTERS.

1. The Palm Beach Story (1942)
A Criterion Collection Blu-ray (Spine #742)
Review in Thirteen Frames

2. After a hectic opening credits of the
marriage between Tom (Joel McCrea) and
Gerry Jeffers (Claudette Colbert), our main
characters, the camera zooms out to reveal the
line “…and they lived happily ever after…” that
many classic fairytales and romance stories
often end with. Then, as it zooms out further,
the music turns from a sweet wedding ceremony
to a horror tune, and then shows “or did they?”
Clueing in the audience that this is just the
beginning of the story, and not the end. This is a
very unusual beginning compared to other
classical Hollywood film from this time period.
By Wyatt J. Bixby
The Palm Beach Story
(Struges, 1942, Universal)
Timecode: 2:40

14. Blu-ray by the Criterion Collection
SPECIAL FEATURES
• New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the
Blu-ray
• New interview with writer and film historian James Harvey about director
Preston Sturges
• New interview with actor and comedian Bill Hader about Sturges
• Safeguarding Military Information, a 1941 World War II propaganda short
written by Sturges
• Screen Guild Theater radio adaptation of the film from March 1943
• PLUS: An essay by critic Stephanie Zacharek; New cover by Maurice Vellekoop
For more information about this product, please visit: https://www.criterion.com/films/28103-the-palm-beach-story